CMPE 412 Software Engineering Asst.Prof.Dr.Duygu Çelik Ertuğrul Room: CMPE 206 Email: duygu.celik@emu.edu.tr

Software Myths (Source: Pressman, R. Software Engineering: A Practitioner’s Approach. McGraw-Hill, 2005)

Software Myths (There are some misleading beliefs that have caused serious problems for managers and programmers.) 1. Books that indicate standards and procedures for building software are enough to produce good programs. REALITY: Software people do not look at the standards and procedures, and sometimes standards and procedures are out of date or incomplete. 2. The software group has got the newest and fastest computers so they should be able to produce good programs. REALITY: Computer Aided Software Eng.(CASE) Tools are more important than Hardware for achieving good quality and productivity. Therefore, latest model of PC is not enough.

3. If we get behind the schedule in a software project, we can add more programmers and finish on time. REALITY: Adding people to a late software project makes it later! (As new people are added, they have to be trained by the others, and this reduces their time.) 4. A general statement of objectives is enough to begin writing programs. We can fill in the details later. REALITY: This is major cause of failure in software projects. We need a formal and detailed description of the system modules , interfaces, and design criteria first.

5. Project requirements are changing continuously 5. Project requirements are changing continuously. However, we can easily handle the changes since software is flexible. REALITY:

6. Once we write the program and it works, our job is done. REALITY: «The sooner you begin writing code, the longer it will take you to complete» 50-70 % of the effort is spent after delivery to customer. Also, the final product should include documents and data. Because, Proper documentation is very important for success, and it guides the maintenance.